Why Every American Should Care About Puerto Rico's Austerity Crisis

FILE - In this April 30, 2015, file photo, Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla delivers his budget address for the next fiscal year at the Capitol building in San Juan. Gov. Garcia announced late Monday, May 11, 2015, that he is reviving his push for a value-added tax despite previous opposition from legislators as concerns grow about the U.S. territory's economic crisis and the government's ability to fix it. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File)

Throngs of students hit the streets of San Juan, Puerto Rico, last week to protest Gov. Alejandro García Padilla's proposal to cut some $166 million from the budget for the island's public university system -- roughly one-fifth of the system's total funds. The cuts to the University of Puerto Rico system were some of the most controversial of a series of deep cuts envisioned in one of the most austere budget proposals the country has seen in recent years.

Despite the large size of the protests and the role they played in prodding the García Padilla administration to rethink the budget cuts, the U.S. mainland media largely ignored the rallies and the austerity debate that prompted them.

Here are five reasons every American should care about what's going on right now in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Ricans are Americans.

People wave flags as U.S. President Barack Obama's motorcade drives past during a visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 14, 2011.(SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

In this April 28, 2015, file photo, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during a town hall meeting with Puerto Rico's Republican Party in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Ricans living on the island may not be able to vote for president, but how the presidential hopefuls approach the island's situation could play a role in the 2016 election. In one of the first moves of his still-unannounced presidential bid, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush visited the island last month on a fundraising trip. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton also has plans to visit this year, according to Puerto Rican daily El Nuevo Día.

Though island residents can't vote for president, visiting the island is widely viewed as a way to shore up support from the increasingly powerful Latino vote. Additionally, nearly 5 million Puerto Rican-born and -descended people live in one of the 50 U.S. states, and they enjoy the right to vote. An increasing number of them are concentrated in the swing state of Florida.

A demonstrator paints a sign on the street that reads in Spanish "Let the rich pay" during a protest outside the hotel where former Gov. Luis Fortuno meets with foreign investors in Fajardo, eastern Puerto Rico, Oct. 22, 2009.

U.S. President Barack Obama eats a 'medianoche' sandwich while eating lunch with Alejandro Garcia Padilla, a Puerto Rican senator, at Kasalta Bakery during a visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 14, 2011. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

The Obama administration has tried to keep Puerto Rico's economic crisis at arm's length. U.S. Treasury officials and the White House have publicly ruled out aid packages to keep the island's government from defaulting on its debt. Meanwhile, proposed legislation that would allow Puerto Rican public corporations and municipal governments to declare bankruptcy -- a right enjoyed by the cities and towns of all 50 states -- has yet to gain traction.

"From a bankruptcy policy perspective, I do not believe that the current exclusion ever made sense; it certainly doesn't make any sense now," former Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuño wrote in an article last month for The Hill. "Puerto Rican bonds are heavily traded in the U.S. municipal bond market, so the legal rules should be the same in Puerto Rico as they are in the 50 states."